When students are given text books in school, it is often times very difficult for them to break apart a large chapter, pick out important information, process that information, and connect it to everyday living. As educators, we can show students different strategies to find important information in many different genres of texts. Through studying the biography genre, we can teach students to look for specific organizational features such as table of contents, timelines, index, and photographs or captions. Students can pinpoint a specific time period the biography is written in and the location of the biography. The use of biographies in classrooms allows students to relate themselves to the main character in the narrative and gives them more opportunity to identify with the text. Through the study of journalistic texts, students begin to read brief stories that are supported by timelines, graphs, captions and subheadings. The journalistic text gives students an opportunity to read smaller bits of information and pick out what is important. The use of informational text and textbooks is where students can apply what they learned through reading biographies and journalistic texts. The informational texts often times have a table of contents that breaks down different categories into chapters, headings and sub-headings that give powerful clues about what a section will be about, bold words that highlight important content within the text, and summarizing points which usually conclude a section or chapter.
It is important as educators that we do not assume our students will be able to read and analyze a text successfully. There are strategies that we can employ to help students find success in reading. Through the article, "Unlocking Text Features for Determining Important in Expository Text: A Strategy for Struggling Readers," Bluestein uses the terminology of "creating a bridge" for our students and helping them scaffold information. Highlighting important information, going through the index and table of contents before teaching a text, utilizing the summary statements are ways students can better understand a text. Having our students stay organized is another huge determining factor in a students success of understanding a text. Using graphic organizers is a great tool that Bluestein suggests teachers teach to their students so that after the students have pulled the important, key facts from the text, they know how to sort and organize their thoughts.
High performing educators can use many different strategies to help students find the meaning in texts. First and foremost, a teach can go over the index and table of contents with their students so the students anticipate the topics they will learn about. Next, a teacher can help students by voicing when a passage is important or directing students attention to an important paragraph. Students should eventually be able to pick out which paragraphs are important without the teachers help. The teacher can review summarizing statements at the end of a section and discuss with students what important information should come out of what they read. Discussion is a great way to help students practice pulling out important information until they get better at it on their own, but like anything, practice will make each student better at reading and comprehending texts. If a teacher has a struggling reader in his/her class, assist closely for the first couple weeks when pulling important information from a text. Help the student highlight bold words and terminology, make connections to everyday life and identify with the text. The student should improve on these strategies through practice and the teacher can gradually allow the student to pick out the information on their own.
Teachers can make a significant difference in a child's life if they have the knowledge and will to go the extra mile to offer extra support to students struggling with literacy; however, if the support from the administration for teachers to change their curriculum or classroom strategies is not evident, the children who need help with their literacy problems will not always get the help they need. In the article, "The Literacy Needs of Adolescents in Their Own Words," the case of Kathy demonstrates this point exactly. Kathy was an autistic eigth grader at the time of the study and was placed in a reading comprehension program with little independent application. Kathy's content area classes were causing her problems because she didn't get the extra support. Kathy's parents were extremely fustrated with the school and their lack of literacy applications in content classrooms. Furthermore, her parents recognized that computers and the internet helped Kathy learn much more than anything else but the school denied its positive influence and kept computers out of her IEP. Finding no other resource available, Kathy's parents were able to get her into the study completed by the authors of the article and were able to determine that Kathy needed visuals to help her with literacy development. Ultimately, the study found that: "We concluded that she needs a visual, kinesthetic approach to instruction, with opportunities for independent practice and a focus on reading strategy instruction. Instead the school is using an auditory-based program focused on word identification skills". The need is for teachers and administration to recognize students need help in all content areas, not just English or Language Arts, each subject requires a different type of skill to read the text and we need to help our students accordingly.
Strategy 3 - Features of Expository Texts
When students are given text books in school, it is often times very difficult for them to break apart a large chapter, pick out important information, process that information, and connect it to everyday living. As educators, we can show students different strategies to find important information in many different genres of texts. Through studying the biography genre, we can teach students to look for specific organizational features such as table of contents, timelines, index, and photographs or captions. Students can pinpoint a specific time period the biography is written in and the location of the biography. The use of biographies in classrooms allows students to relate themselves to the main character in the narrative and gives them more opportunity to identify with the text. Through the study of journalistic texts, students begin to read brief stories that are supported by timelines, graphs, captions and subheadings. The journalistic text gives students an opportunity to read smaller bits of information and pick out what is important. The use of informational text and textbooks is where students can apply what they learned through reading biographies and journalistic texts. The informational texts often times have a table of contents that breaks down different categories into chapters, headings and sub-headings that give powerful clues about what a section will be about, bold words that highlight important content within the text, and summarizing points which usually conclude a section or chapter.
It is important as educators that we do not assume our students will be able to read and analyze a text successfully. There are strategies that we can employ to help students find success in reading. Through the article, "Unlocking Text Features for Determining Important in Expository Text: A Strategy for Struggling Readers," Bluestein uses the terminology of "creating a bridge" for our students and helping them scaffold information. Highlighting important information, going through the index and table of contents before teaching a text, utilizing the summary statements are ways students can better understand a text. Having our students stay organized is another huge determining factor in a students success of understanding a text. Using graphic organizers is a great tool that Bluestein suggests teachers teach to their students so that after the students have pulled the important, key facts from the text, they know how to sort and organize their thoughts.
High performing educators can use many different strategies to help students find the meaning in texts. First and foremost, a teach can go over the index and table of contents with their students so the students anticipate the topics they will learn about. Next, a teacher can help students by voicing when a passage is important or directing students attention to an important paragraph. Students should eventually be able to pick out which paragraphs are important without the teachers help. The teacher can review summarizing statements at the end of a section and discuss with students what important information should come out of what they read. Discussion is a great way to help students practice pulling out important information until they get better at it on their own, but like anything, practice will make each student better at reading and comprehending texts. If a teacher has a struggling reader in his/her class, assist closely for the first couple weeks when pulling important information from a text. Help the student highlight bold words and terminology, make connections to everyday life and identify with the text. The student should improve on these strategies through practice and the teacher can gradually allow the student to pick out the information on their own.
Strategies for Comprehension:http://www.readingrockets.org/article/3479Supporting Struggling Readers:http://www.benchmarkeducation.com/educational-leader/reading/supporting-struggling-readers.html
Decoding and Comprehension:
http://www.derry.k12.nh.us/epb/staff/reading/iwellman/decoding.html
Teachers can make a significant difference in a child's life if they have the knowledge and will to go the extra mile to offer extra support to students struggling with literacy; however, if the support from the administration for teachers to change their curriculum or classroom strategies is not evident, the children who need help with their literacy problems will not always get the help they need. In the article, "The Literacy Needs of Adolescents in Their Own Words," the case of Kathy demonstrates this point exactly. Kathy was an autistic eigth grader at the time of the study and was placed in a reading comprehension program with little independent application. Kathy's content area classes were causing her problems because she didn't get the extra support. Kathy's parents were extremely fustrated with the school and their lack of literacy applications in content classrooms. Furthermore, her parents recognized that computers and the internet helped Kathy learn much more than anything else but the school denied its positive influence and kept computers out of her IEP. Finding no other resource available, Kathy's parents were able to get her into the study completed by the authors of the article and were able to determine that Kathy needed visuals to help her with literacy development. Ultimately, the study found that: "We concluded that she needs a visual, kinesthetic approach to instruction, with opportunities for independent practice and a focus on reading strategy instruction. Instead the school is using an auditory-based program focused on word identification skills". The need is for teachers and administration to recognize students need help in all content areas, not just English or Language Arts, each subject requires a different type of skill to read the text and we need to help our students accordingly.
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